Mary Leo - For Better or Cursed

FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS, Vinney and his rescue team from the Loomis Street Station worked to set Rudy free.

In the end the front passenger seat had to be removed through the roof, which, of course, required a hole. Cate actually cried a little when she saw the roof come off and the seat come out in tiny pieces.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aunt Flo said, as chunks of Cate’s car hit the pavement with a sharp clank. “Rudy told me he’s still got plenty of loot. He’ll get you a brand-new one of them bug cars.”

The ’79 classic Beetle had more sentimental value than retail value, so the replacement idea had little impact. Cate had bought it secondhand when she was a teenager. She had worked a whole year in a hot bakery and saved every dime. She loved that car and had a hard time lending it to her sister…who had promised to take good care of it, which, until Rudy Bellafini came along, she had.

But it wasn’t her sister’s fault, it was Cate’s. She was sure of it now.

When Rudy finally came limping out of the car, using Vinney’s right arm for support, the group, which now consisted of the entire neighborhood plus a couple of lost tourists, cheered.

A male paramedic checked out Rudy’s foot. Cate could tell Rudy was anxious about something, which was good. The sooner she could get him into that ambulance, the better.

“Can you walk?” the paramedic asked.

“I think so. I just want to get inside somewhere.”

He started to take a step but he stumbled. Vinney grabbed Rudy under one arm for support, and the paramedic grabbed the other.

“Easy there, fella. Put your weight on me,” Vinney commanded, his tone official. That was something Cate wasn’t used to. It gave her a new sense of respect for her former boyfriend.

“I guess I’m in worse shape than I thought,” Rudy said with a slight edge to his voice.

“Maybe you should lie down. Take it easy. You might do better at the hospital,” Vinney told him.

“I’ve had enough of hospitals. They can kill ya. No telling who they let in there. I’ll call a cab and go back to my dad’s old house. I’ll be fine there,” he said, but then gazed over at Cate with his “save me” look that she never could refuse.

“Bring him inside,” she told Vinney, guilt oozing into her reasoning. She told herself it would just be for a few hours, just until he was steady on his feet.

“But—” Vinney started to say.

Cate broke in. “He’ll be fine. Nothing’s broken.”

“Whatever you say.” Vinney helped Rudy across the lawn and up the stairs. Gina led the way, opening doors and moving anything and anybody in their path.

“We’ll put him down in a chair in the living room for now,” Cate said, but the living room was crowded with neighbors admiring Henry’s indoor garden, and the dining room was filled with hungry relatives, so they took him to the one place in all the world where Cate thought she would never, ever see Rudy Bellafini again.

Vinney walked him up the stairs to Cate’s bedroom and put him right down in the center of her queen-size, antique, walnut bed.

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